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Samantha
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Composed, Orchestrated, Conducted, and Produced by:
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LABEL & RELEASE DATE
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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Regular U.S. release, but out of print as of 2003.
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AWARDS
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None.
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Buy it... only if you are one of the few people who have seen the
film and seek the original neoclassical music written by Joel McNeely.
Avoid it... even if you are a McNeely enthusiast, for
Samantha is among his most mundane works.
BUY IT
 | | McNeely |
Samantha: (Joel McNeely) Among the plethora of suburban
family-related films of the late 1980's and early 1990's that attempted the
delicate balance between insightful drama and wicked comedy, Samantha
remains an anonymous entry. The heroine of the story discovers on her 21st
birthday that she was left on the doorstep of her adopted parents' home as an
infant. She had been the terror of the neighborhood all her life, enacting stunts
that would drive any parent or neighbor insane, and she becomes worse after she
makes her major discovery. The determined girl (the titular Samantha, of course)
launches a search for her biological parents, and in unlikely circumstances,
finally confronts them in an strangely bizarre scene. Relevant to film music fans
is the fact that girl is phenom on the violin, and a young neighbor of hers is an
aspiring cellist, allowing for several on-screen performance scenes that required
classical source music to be applied. The problem with the overall equation is
that the film, shot by first-time director Stephen La Rocque, couldn't decide
whether it wanted to be a drama or a comedy, and thus treats its characters with
the same awkward ambivalence as a Cohen Brothers film. The combination of
classical music and composer Joel McNeely's score in the film didn't assist in
this dilemma, with McNeely's bouncy, often comedic score interspersed between
performances of well known classical pieces that run both straight and serious in
tone. The score came at a relatively early point in McNeely's career, before he
had really established himself in the 1990's, and during the time when many in
the industry still considered him a possible future replacement for John
Williams. Even two decades later, McNeely had yet to become a featured name in
major Hollywood blockbusters, but he has more than proven his viability in a
number of genres, including both drama and comedy.
Unfortunately, Samantha doesn't really manage to excel
musically in either category. McNeely wanted to distinguish his contributed
underscore from the classical quartet pieces in the film and thus employed a
small orchestra that is handled well enough that it produces some fierce noise
now and then. The comedic elements bubble along with almost waltz-like rhythms
and occasionally boil over into full-fledged timpani-rolling pomp. The girl's
whimsical adventures are sometimes served in the form of outward comedy, such as
in "Infant Abduction," which opens with light drums and a jazzy rhythm for piano
and brass that is faintly reminiscent of Lalo Schifrin's 1960's endeavors. The
primary theme for the girl was intentionally made as catchy as possible (to match
her personality), and it succeeds in tormenting that character. The hopelessly
flighty nature of that theme, however, also succeeds in annoying the listener as
well, especially when interspersed with lightly prancing neoclassical mannerisms.
A solo violin is sometimes used to represent her talents, though not with enough
frequency to be a distinguishing factor. The few moments of dramatic material of
subdued volume shed light on the problem with the film itself; after the
whimsical comedy cues, the dramatic constructs seem to lack the sincerity
necessary for the topic. In these regards, the comedy music in Samantha
resembles Mark McKenzie's Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, and the dramatic side
scratches at the style of John Debney's established works for similar projects.
On album, the classical music by Mozart, Dvorak, Haydn, and the likes is included
in pieces throughout the short cues of original material, causing a disjointed
listening experience. Included on that completely out of print product, however,
is McNeely's cutely concocted "Mrs. Schtumer's Fifth Symphony" in both quartet
format and the original organ performance that torments the girl in her youth.
Overall, Samantha is basically functional in its task, but lacks the focus
and depth to same unfortunate end as the film itself.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Joel McNeely reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.38
(in 16 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.14
(in 8,430 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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Total Time: 30:49
• 1. Samantha (3:59)
• 2. Samantha Submerged (1:45)
• 3. Video Nuisance (0:41)
• 4. Mrs. Schtumer's Fifth Symphony - Quartet (2:09)
• 5. A Very Special Gift (2:32)
• 6. "American" Quartet OP.96 - 1st Movement (Dvorak) (3:31)
• 7. Concerto for Flute and Harp - 2nd Movement (Mozart) (1:39)
• 8. Holy Water vs. 220 Volts (0:35)
• 9. Over the Edge (2:22)
• 10. Infant Abduction (1:54)
• 11. Quartet in C Major OP.74 No. 1 - 1st Movement (Haydn) (2:31)
• 12. "Harp" Quartet No. 10 OP.74 (Beethovan) (0:58)
• 13. Mrs. Schtumer's Fifth Symphony - Organ (1:57)
• 14. End Credits (3:57)
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The insert includes the following note from Joel McNeely:
"Samantha, a film by Stephen LaRocque, is a story of a young violinist,
who on her twenty-first birthday learns from her parents that she came
to them by way of a wicker basket left on their front door step. The
challenges of this score lay in capturing Samantha's capricious nature,
the whimsy of her many flashbacks and fantastic daydreams and the true
anguish with which she sought out her real parents.
In addition to providing an underscore, music also plays a role in furthering the
plot. When a young Samantha accidentally becomes locked in the church
belfry, she is held an unwitting audience to a performance of the
eccentric old church organist Mrs. Schtumer's, "5th Symphony". The
music roils and boils into a feverish frenzy, leaving little Samantha
temporarily deaf - the music forever imprinted on her brain. In
composing "Schtumer's Fifth" I tried to introduce a theme catchy
enough to stick in Samantha's ear. In addition I wanted it to be
neoclassical and derivative of a few too many styles that don't quite go
together, helping make Mrs. Schtumer seem slightly crazy.
As Samantha is an accomplished musician, there is a rich variety of
classical music entwined into the plot of the film. The string quartet
literature was selected for not only its musical value, but its dramatic
content as well. An added feature was that actor Dermot Mulroney, who
plays the character Henry, the cellist, is actually a fantastic cellist
himself, and played all of his own parts in the string quartets.
I felt it was important to set the underscore apart musically from
the chamber music in the film, so I opted for a small orchestral score
in which I tried to capture Samantha's quirky ways. The main theme is
comprised of a tune which is very active, jumps all around in register
and hopefully conveys a whimsical feeling. The secondary theme is more
singing and romantic.
Working on this film was indeed a labor
of love, as what composer could not love a film which treats music with
such reverence and respect. I hope you have as much fun listening to
this score as I had in creating it."
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